Tossed Together

Ever go into your closet determined to make use of the stuff you haven't worn in a while? Here's a quick snap of a random outfit that got tossed together, (like the proverbial salad) but ended up being kind of cute. It resulted from me grabbing a wacky assortment of items I hadn't tried on in months and months, (and altogether forgot I even owned)...

...Like these booties that are the perfect shade of khaki, the little, leather crop coat, and the dress/tunic that I can never decide how to wear. (Should it go over leggings, jeans, palazzos, or bare)?

I LOVE this belt, (a gift from Mom) and it's super military looking but once again, I forgot it existed!

And the jacket quilting is very MJ, (if MJ had ever worn subdued shades of camel instead of red and black).

Dress: Bluebird, Booties: 7 For All Mankind, Necklaces: Nordstrom and Vintage, Jacket: ASOS, Belt: Italy

Another fun fact, both the jacket and dress were essentially "swapped" by bringing in clothes to Crossroads Trading Co. last year and switching out for these items. That's how it goes, give a little, get a little. As far as this wacky outfit, some days you throw out a little caution and wear it at your peril. Sometimes that's a good thing.

With Love,

Noa B

Celebrity Skin and a Request

I received the sweetest email yesterday from a young, aspiring makeup artist who wanted to know how I created the looks for Brittany Robertson in the feature film, "The First Time". I was only too happy to share with her the steps I took in creating the various makeups for the character of Aubrey, and walking her through the process and products.

Aubrey's character embodies the "Girl Next Door" with just a hint of sexy, artsy, and perhaps a touch hipster-y.

One thing the director insisted on was that Britt's character should always look luminous, as if her skin was faintly glowing. Here's the trailer, see what you think?

 

(Although some of my favorite products used on this feature have since been discontinued, here's a way to recreate Britt's seemingly perfect skin yourself)!

 To get "Aubrey" skin, try this mash up of products for size:

1: Prime skin with Becca Pore Mattifing Primer.

2: Blend Becca Rosequartz Shimmering Skin Perfector across cheek and orbital bone, and across the bridge of the nose.

3: Dab Becca Cheek stain in Grapefruit on the apples of the cheek.

4: Blend Urban Decay Creamy Concealer Pencils under and above eyes, around nostrils, under brow, and on any red spots.

5: Add a drop of  Obsessive Compulsive Airbrush foundation by hand and blend with a buffing brush.

6: Blend Yves St Laurent Loose Powder #2 all over skin.

7: Highlight Cheekbones with MAC Well dressed, pressed blush.

8: Contour under cheek bone and jawline with Laura Mercier Sun Bronze.

9: Add a dot of highlighter shadow to the inner eye area, (Becca Aspara, Stila Kitten, or MAC Shroom).

Va, va voom! Perfect, (teen) skin!

With Love,

Noa B

Chain Gang Vintage Swap

Ladies!

It's "Chain Gang" time once again, and I'm truly excited to show you how a group of us gals who all love vintage each took a turn at styling this retro, wooly jacket! (For new readers, the Chain Gang is a collective of fashion bloggers who periodically swap one item of clothing and show our readers how to style it in various ways. This is my 5th chain gang and I think our rounds just keep getting better and better)!

I received this fuzzy blazer courtesy of Sarah at "Living Goldie" and played endlessly trying to figure out how I liked it best. Just for fun, I thought I'd show you a few "incarnations" of how I dressed it up and down before settling on a favorite.

First, there was the 70's inspired shorts. Although this coat is probably from the mid-80's, the cobalt-purple color felt so incredibly disco that I wanted to mix it up. So I tried glitz and shorts with thick hoops and a pony belt but felt a little exposed. Next I experimented with copper and leopard wedges. Definitely fun and comfortable, but it wasn't quite jelling. When it works I know I can leave the house feeling pulled together and easy. This combo didn't feel quite "me" yet...

...Until I pulled on these AG jeans which I've tailored to look like slim-fit, "boyfriend's". Presto. Yellow, kitten heels and a woven belt paired with some polka dots finally felt like the right balance of casual chic. I took a walk with my hubby in this ensemble and like Goldilocks, knew it was just right...

Heels: Enzo Angiolini, Jeans: AG, Top: Random Boutique, Belt: Vintage, Bracelet: Vintage 

Here's the best part! Now you can decide how to style this jacket by entering to win it!

Head on over to http://www.livinggoldie.com for official rules and to enter!!

And be sure to visit all of these blogs to see the different ways each member of the Chain Gang rocked it!

Sarah from Living Goldie 

Jen from Belle de Couture

Tanya from November Grey

Jenn from The Suburb Experiment   

With Love,

Noa B

Saturday Fun Day!

I've been looking forward to seeing a dear friend and having a food and makeup "play date" all week. After wrapping late last night, I headed home by way of Trader Joe's to pick up some basic ingredients for this morning's breakfast.

 

I find that eating a lot of starchy food in the morning makes me extremely hungry within a couple of hours. So when I read this adorable food blog describing how vital it is to have fats and protein in the am with your carbs, I was all about re-creating this incredibly easy recipe featured on Faith from the Kitchn'. This one was for Breakfast Pizza, yum!

(A side bar, I normally make my own pizza dough using a half white, half whole wheat recipe but at 9:30pm I was buying Trader Joe's whole wheat, prepared dough instead)!

Grab a single portion of pizza dough and separate into individual pieces. (I cut a single serving into 4 balls and rolled them flat on a cutting board).

Place dough in a skillet or griddle pan on medium heat. Leave for about 1-2 minutes until the bread begins to "pouf" and bubble. The idea is to treat the pizza dough like Lahvash instead of pizza. Flip once and remove from heat.

Mash up a fresh avocado, add lime, cilantro, salt and pepper. Spread over the bubbling, flat bread.

Fry a single egg medium/well with a teaspoon of oil. Place atop your breakfast pizza. Season or add a bit of fresh tomato and voila! A fun and hearty dish. 
Digest, spend some time with friends, play with some new makeup looks! (We did).  After which we went shopping for some "replenishment" items. My newest "love"? MAC's "feelin good" lip gloss from the Betty and Veronica, Archie comics collection.

Remember the ubiquitous "Vamp" from Chanel in the early 90's? Well that black/blood color is making a comeback. And right now you can get it in this totally adorable packaging at your local MAC pro store.

It goes on almost black, and then softens to a mashed cherry finish...

I rocked it with hot pink blush and black liner on the eyes, (all courtesy of MAC).

I love spending a restorative and relaxing day with a girlfriend! We laughed, we ate, (a lot)! We bought makeup, we shopped the boutiques, we shared a coffee and our weekly backlog of anecdotes. Most of all, we shared...

With Love!

Noa B

Susie Homemaker: A-Line Dress

Vintage prints have my heart, they really do.

This one suggests a watercolor palette. It's so demure, and with the high waist I feel very "fifties". But the print and bell, 3/4 sleeves are definitely pushing "Boho". 

The fabric is sheer so I'm wearing a pinkish/flesh tone, vintage slip beneath it. We're going for a picnic lunch in Venice, so it's flats today all the way!

 Copper is a great transition color.

Of course I can't resist a vintage belt too...

But the earrings are new'ish. 

They're my wedding jewelry.

Out in the sunshine it's hard not to smile ear to ear. It's sunny and gorgeous and a perfect day to stroll with the one you love!

Dress: Vintage, Slip: Vintage, Belt: Vintage, Flats: Sigerson Morrison, Earrings, (my wedding) Tres Jolie

With Love,

Noa B

Sustainable Clothing: Oscars Inspiration

If you caught the Oscars this year, some of you may have heard Helen Hunt giving Piers Morgan the rundown on her dress. Turns out, it was designed by H&M with a consortium between a sustainable fabrics company that Helen is a big fan of. Hence, the "affordable" and "eco-friendly" Oscar dress.

Well who doesn't like Eco conscious clothing? I mean, as long as it doesn't smell like burning hemp it seems like a win/win. Which brings me to this latest find, from Covet. In their own words:

Founded in 2004, Covert is renowned for achieving fusion and balance between true fashion and an awareness of the world in which we live. This is accomplished by incorporating organic and sustainable fibers while remaining true to the details and styling of a contemporary fashion brand.

Eco friendly or not, let me tell ya, this dress is SO comfortable, soft, cozy, and well structured!

To begin with, it looks like an ordinary sweater dress on the hanger. But when you pull it on, it hugs all the right places and relaxes the fit on all the little bits you don't want showing. The shoulders have beautiful, pin-tuck details and a secondary seam that really tapers the look of the sleeve. What you get is an elongated arm and broader shoulder line, (which is super flattering)!

 

 

Then there's the ruched, front and back panel. I'm no great fan of my bum, but I feel completely comfortable wandering around in this dress because of the way the fabric hugs and "holds" everything in place. No foundation garments needed.

 

 

 

 

For all it's "Body-Con" shaping, this dress is extremely forgiving. I feel five lbs lighter in it!

 Dress: Covet, Heels: Donald J Pliner, Bag: Hammitt, Necklaces: Vintage and JewelMint, Scarf: Vintage

And you can find retailers who sell Covet in every city and on line. Link to their site here to see why their clothing is so comfy-cool!

With Love,

Noa B

Product Review: Smokey Eye Demo

Happy Tuesday All,

I wanted to start off the week with a makeup tutorial as well as give a few shout outs to some new products I am SERIOUSLY crushing on!

Last Friday I had an urge to play up a smokey eye. I do love dark eye makeup, but being a makeup artist and doing this for a living, I often just do what artists who paint faces do on their days off, (that is, swipe on concealer and mascara and go). It's a bit like my friends who work in wardrobe. On their days off, they hate shopping and live in sweat pants. (Hazard of the trade I guess).

But I had noticed that NARS was debuting a new palette at Sephora in March and I was dying to test it. (NARS often makes limited edition products purely for the Sephora market, and I grudgingly part with my makeup artist discount and pay full freight, knowing I'm going to LOVE the colors). So I trundled off to my local mall in search of the "God Created Woman" palette along with some new goodies.

And here's what I got. The NARS palette, a new tube of Benefit, Bad Gal Lash, and to top it off, NARS Lip gloss/pencil in New Lover. (This is a Sephora 100 point gift and to those of you who use their point system, I'd suggest grabbing two)! To this, I added a new drug store gem, the NYC bronzing wheels.

Now the trick with any major makeup is to focus on one element. Since this was going to be eyes, it meant subduing the rest of the face. Blush: out. Bronzer: in. Lipstick: out. Glossy-sheer stain: in.

I rolled my hair in curlers to get some body while prepping. Here I am wearing only undereye concealer, (which helps prime the makeup in addition to getting rid of bags) and a coat of mascara.

1: Let's get started. Begin by sweeping the most neutral tone shadow across the lid and into the crease of the eye. How far you go is determined by the shape and size of your lid and brow-bone. Mine is big, so I go to the crease and just a hint above it.

2: Next, blend the lightest, highlighting shade through from the crease to the browbone and under the brow itself. 

3: Add depth and warmth along the crease with a deeper shade to complement what you've already used. I often like to use a color with some shimmer at this point. It reflects light away from the hollow points around the socket. (Corner bottom left).

4: Blend into the outer crease with a flat, wide brush.

5: Choose a dark and potentially matte color to line the upper and lower lash-line. I like to start with this chocolate, and then highlight over it as a secondary step.

6: Soften your lower lines under the bottom lashes by adding a highlighting shade to blend out the darkest edges. Brush and blend gently to smudge your liner. (I'm doing it with the uppermost, right hand shade of peach you see in the image above).

8: Using your darkest color, triangulate an outer edge which you can then smudge out with a blender brush. You can see the line here right before I smudged and softened. (Middle bottom shade is used as a liner, top right hand corner shade is being used to lift and highlight over the liner).

9: Time to finish and polish! I'm choosing a subtle bronzer in place of blush. This serves to keep the face "neutral" outside of the eye makeup and creates balance. The lighter bronzer seen up top is highlighting my orbital bone, while the deeper bronzer is contouring my cheek and chin.

10: Finishing touches include a dab of brow gel, two coats of Bad Gal Lash, and a lip tint from NARS.

11: Brush out the curlers, and it's on!

 Time to set rollers: 3 minutes. Time to sculpt eyes: 5 minutes. Contour, lip, mascara: 2 minutes. Brushing out hair: 3 minutes. Total time to glamor? Under 15 minutes!

With Love,

Noa B